Dischordant
by Rai Science
Summary: There was more to the cost of Jadeite's favor than he or Zoisite ever expected, but now that he's begun to untangle the discordant mess that is Jadeite, Zoisite is far from willing to stop. An exploration of Jadeite and Zoisite, from Act 8 to the Special Act.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I've been rewatching PGSM and it's giving me a lot of drabble ideas. This is the first of them to be written. This may end up becoming a ficlet series, based on interactions between Zoisite and Jadeite based around a single headcanon - the idea that Zoisite, so sensitive to music and auras, perceives the spell Beryl has cast on the Shitennou as discordance that ruins his music, and he has finally chosen to investigate for himself just what causes this disruption.

* * *

The house that disguises the entrance to their Kingdom is a gloomy one, but Zoisite pays it no mind. The ambiance lends itself to his music and the echoing room allows his song's power to resonate as it spreads, searching for Sailor V. He will find her this time, he can sense his power drawing near her and -

The door opens, the clink of booted feet against hard wood floors breaking his concentration, the Jadeite's magical presence interrupting the flow of his work and his spell is broken.

Pale eyes darken with narrow with annoyance, but Zoisite's face is otherwise blank. He had no time to spare for interruptions and certainly not from Jadeite, who was far too discordant. His very presence made the music misbehave in the most annoying of ways.

"I have a favor to ask." The younger man's voice was low and angry, almost desperate.

"I'm busy tracking Sailor V," he dismissed, turning his gaze back to his piano.

"Listen." The hand slamming down upon the keys of his beloved instrument is lucky Zoisite's glare can't kill. "I want to crush the Sailor Soldiers!"

Annoyed eyes meet Jadeite's gaze and _oh_.  
He _is_ desperate.

The third king smiles slowly, viciously and the youngest of the Shitennou pales. He can use this. Music ripples through the room.

"Perhaps I will help you after all," He smirked, looking over the young man. Still pale, but with his jaw clenched with determination, Jadeite stood still as stone as Zoisite stood and approached him. "But of course, it will cost you."

"Cost wha- mph!" Jadeite glared furiously at the other man, who'd covered his mouth with one gloved hand.

"No speaking. That is my first rule," he said coldly. "You wish for a chance to destroy the Senshi, Jadeite? Then a chance you will have – after I am satisfied."

It was amusing, watching Jadeite tense and pale, the boy – hardly a man – obviously fearing the first conclusion to come to his mind. Zoisite supposed it wasn't an unfair conclusion; Jadeite was a pretty boy and his attitude left much one could be punished for. He strummed his fingers through the air, the movements almost absent, and his smirk widened as he felt his magic work, the blonde's aura becoming observable.  
He did not need a piano to perform his magic, after all.

Jadeite felt even more discordant than normal, his aura rife with fear and nervous tension, the clashing and squalling sound of it disrupting the auras of everything around him. He let the fear last a moment longer, stilling his fingers of his free hand as he slowly released the boy's mouth.

"You are a distraction and you have disrupted my work," Zoisite said calmly, "And to pay for both this distraction and the cost of your favor, you will allow me to work on you."

Tense features scrunch in a frown as Jadeite looks back at him. "Work on me? How? I don't have time for this Zoisite, I must destroy the Sailor Senshi!"

Now that just wouldn't do. Jadeite needed to learn to obey the rules.  
Turning back to his piano, Zoisite sat with quiet elegance, cape flaring with his movements. He placed his fingers on the piano, beginning a melody that was slow and unnerving. He did not have to be watching to know that Jadeite would be watching him nervously.

"Your very presence here is tiresome, Jadeite," Zoisite began coolly, "A distraction my work can ill afford and an annoyance I will not tolerate long. If you wish for my aid then you will do what I say. And the first rule is _to be silent_," The music became harsh without losing a decibel of beauty and Jadeite winced.

Wincing became trembling and soon the blonde had fallen to one knee, hands clutched over his ears in a vain attempt to stop the attack that was as much magical as it was audible. Zoisite continued his playing for several moments, sadistically amused to see that despite the pain he knew he was causing, Jadeite kept his jaw clenched.

What an obedient boy Jadeite could be, given the right motivation.

Before long Jadeite was kneeling, head buried in his arm and his back arched so that his head very nearly touched the floor. Still not a sound escaped him

Finally, the music stopped and with it, the pain. Zoisite's amused gaze never left Jadeite as the blonde gasped near-silently, teeth clenched to hold back in noises he might be tempted to make.

"Did you enjoy the lesson, Jadeite?"

Pained blue eyes narrowed with anger, but the young blonde nodded shortly

"Good boy. Now stand up and come here." The white-haired Shitennou's voice had returned to it's original tone of bemusement, with a hint of confidence that he wouldn't be disobeyed.  
He was right.

Jadeite struggled to his feet and walked to his side, still not daring to make a sound.

"As I was saying, you will allow to me work on you – and not just once, but until this problem is solved." He looked over to blonde with distinct distaste. "You ruin everything, simply by existing. In the minor act of breathing your aura disrupts my music. Your voice leads my spell craft into disarray. A creature with such a chaotic, misaligned aura should be incapable of survival and yet here you are. I shall send you on a Soul Flight to face the Sailor Senshi and in return you will submit to my experiments. I am sure there is someway to fix that havoc you call and aura."

And once he was able to adjust Jadeite, he could work on the others, work on himself. Even he was not exempt from this... disarray, though it was hardly to the level Nephrite and Jadeite reached by merely existing."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: This takes place shortly before and during the second scene between Jadeite and Zoisite in Act 8. Direct quotes have been lifted from the episode in some places.

* * *

The music played on and on, the strum of his fingers guiding the keys to their places. _Brute force,_ he mused to himself, _is hardly my method of choice. But for this... perhaps. To begin. Finesse can come after I have found what makes him so wretched._

A brief glance at Jadeite showed the young man leaning against the wall, scowling mulishly as Zoisite played. Even now, despite the fact that he's yet to make a move in nearly ten minutes, his presence disrupts his work. Zoisite is far to skilled a pianist to allow distraction to effect his music but the sheer _chaos _in Jadeite's order sends his spells awry unless he streams his magic constantly.

It is a waste, an intolerable waste and now he had the chance to fix it – or at least, present his Queen with proof that Nephrite and Jadeite must be banned from his music room.

Either option would end well for him.

With a twist of his fingers the melody he was playing had changed tempo, becoming something swift and powerful, a deep fortissimo descending into a softer mezzo piano before ascending once again. "Ah, to warn you," he began, voice darkly amused, "This _will _hurt."

And then the magic, rather than floating aimlessly about the room, homed in on Jadeite, circling him, encasing him, and sinking into him. Now, Jadeite wasn't leaning out of boredom, but braced for support as Zoisite's magic raced through his body, and deeper, scanning for the cause of his disturbing presence.

Where is it – _damn._ Jadeite's own abilities were fighting him, his innate talent for controlling energy draining the energy from his scan. Zoisite changed the rhythm of the music, fortississimo, forte, mezzo piano, fortissimo, loud and soft, rising in a crescendo of music and magic that was more than even Jadeite could absorb without actively controlling it.

The scan was working, pulsing deep and searching for the cause of it's creators headaches. The music slowed to the calmer tones of a soul flight and Jadeite was able to stand again, though his face was pale and his forehead dotted with sweat, lingering pain in every movement.

"Good boy," he smirks, the taunting phrase dragging a glare to Jadeite's face. "Now on to your favor."

An expression of nervous curiosity touches the boy's expression and Zoisite smirks. "You may speak," he offers in a tone of sarcastic graciousness.

"Was that it?" Jadeite demands, obviously forcing himself not to yell and risk his favor, his eyes dark with anger.

"For now," was all the white-haired Shitennou was willing to tell him.

It isn't it, his scan was far from complete, but keeping Jadeite focused on something else would allow his spells the time to find what he's looking for. Jadeite doesn't need to know that he's still using him, and now that his attention is elsewhere the spell can get past his defenses with ease; there will be no pain to give him away now.

"Project your heart, to where Sailor Moon is."

And as Jadeite focused on the Soul Flight, following the few instructions, Zoisite entwined the two spells together, one to send Jadeite's soul to face Sailor Moon and the other to keep searching. He could feel it now, the pulsing, chaotic mess that was Jadeite's aura. The scope of it was surprising – he could sense that the mess was deeper than he'd imagined, a cacophonous, jarring burst of sound bitten deep, hiding any hint of what could lurk beneath it. Zoisite closed his eyes, working an extra layer of magic into the spell so that he could visualize what it was he was sensing.

It would have been over simplifying things to call it a knot.  
The tangle he was visualizing before him was a great, living thing, pulsing with might every so often. Trapped within it was a pink light... but within wasn't quite the right world. It was more like the two had merged, separate pulsing auras forced into one, and the pink one was certainly the weaker.

Purple encircled, engulfed and entwined the pink, in some places the two layered over each other until it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended, in others purple vines protruded from the pink, giving the impression it was rooted quite deeply.

What on Earth?

Zoisite reached out carefully, spells prodding at the mess before him. Yes, this was certainly Jadeite but – how the youngest of the Shitennou had come to develop such a twisted aura the Winter King could hardly fathom.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: In which Zoisite seeks answers and Jadeite suffers for them.

* * *

It was enormous, near all encompassing, and Zoisite could only wonder as to why Jadeite had allowed it to spread so far. Was he really that much of an idiot as to think this was acceptable?

Or perhaps he didn't know how to solve this. Close examination had proved this disturbance to be significantly more powerful than Jadeite's own aura, which he'd discovered rang with sounds of a surprisingly uplifting oboe. The sound surprised the musician, who would have never expected such a complicated and historical instrument to represent the blonde's aura. If he worked at it, he could focus his power more completely on the oboe's music, almost managing to block out the sound of an instrument so out of tune Zoisite could hardly determine what it was.

The only reason he could imagine the blond allowing such damage to stay was if he were too embarrassed to confess what had happened. Any attack capable of leaving such a massive change _would_ have been noticed and yet... Zoisite could not recall a time in which Jadeite had _not _possessed such a disturbing presence.

A time-span of – who knew how long. Time in the Dark Kingdom passed hazily, making it difficult for anyone and everyone to really put a label on when something had happened. Zoisite was one of the worst at time-keeping, letting whole days slip away when he played his music.

He could admit quite easily to himself that he had only begun to truly pay attention to the other Shitennou when he'd taken a more active role in Queen Beryl's plans. Splitting his attention for a moment, Zoisite took note that Jadeite's spirit had departed – the blonde had found Sailor Moon then.

For a moment, he hesitated. To continue delving into Jadeite's spirit while the Soul Flight was in effect could cause the spell to collapse – painfully. Zoisite was prepared to withdraw when he felt the disturbed concerto of music change. Where before Jadeite's own music was a song of tolerable skill, now it creaked and bleated as if the instrument were fundamentally damaged, the strange overlying instrument letting out a shrill squeal. The sound was intolerable and Zoisite drew back his spells to a more tolerable level with a crisp motion of his fingers on the keyboard.

An investigation of Jadeite could continue at another time – not even the possibility of ridding himself of the nuisance was worth listening to that. Resuming the soothing song of Soul Flight, Zoisite allowed himself to focus on his own goals – finding the Princess.

Casting his soul to the place he _knew _she was, the focus of his mind and soul too much for mere boundaries of identity to stop him, Zoisite smirked as he watched the dark-haired girl who was the Princess flinch as she caught sight of him. A cold smile spread over his face as he approached her, locking his gaze on her. So this was the Princess... this slip of a girl who watched him so warily.

And a clever one – he smiled mockingly at her as she ordered her servant to dispose of the music.

"I've found you Princess," He laughed quietly, a victorious twist to his lips. Even as he returned to his own body the feeling of triumph refused to disperse. He had found her. He could do it again. He could -

Music _shrieked_ from Jadeite's direction, and he felt an unmistakeable presence rise. _Metallia-sama?_ Zoisite stared at the blonde's blank eyes, and made his decision. If whatever was happening to Jadeite involved Metallia's power he wanted to know more.

The path into Jadeite's aura was easier to traverse now, the gleaming notes that represented his power here spiraling deeper into Jadeite's realm. And there was the mass, pulsing and gleaming in a twisted song as Jadeite worked his magic. The sound was crossing the border into pain now and with a quiet hiss Zoisite bored his magic into the faint gaps between the two auras and jerked. It was an inexpert, clumsy movement, but it worked for a brief instant, enough to force a separation between the two powers.

And then whatever it was – Metallia – his mind hissed – reacted. Purple energy, now visibly specked with black, shot 'towards' Zoisite's gathered spells even as part of it stretched to anchor itself more deeply within the shivering pink ball. The resulting explosion of energy, as purple-black struck ethereal music notes, knocked the white-haired Shitennou back into his body, fingers clenching on the keys and to produce a high-pitched clang. He looked up in time to see Jadeite collapsed on the floor, breaths coming in harsh pants.

Zoisite stood smoothing his expression as he walked to check on the blonde. He hadn't expected that, not at all. Jadeite was alive, but how much damage had been done – he wouldn't be able to tell until the younger man was more awake. Kneeling by his side, Zoisite took Jadeite's pulse and frowned as he realized it was thready and weak. He would have to move quickly if he wanted answers. "You did well, for a beginner," he smirked down at him.

"S-shut up," Jadete panted in response. Zoisite laughed quietly, stepping on Jadeite's hand as he returned to his piano.

"Do remember the first rule," he reminded him quietly. For several moments the only sounds that could be heard were Zoisite's music and the quiet huff of Jadeite's breath. Eventually though, the sound of muffled shuffling could be heard as Jadeite struggled to stand. Zoisite merely watched him, doubting the boy would succeed.

"Jadeite," he drawled calmly, "When did the damage to your aura occur?"

There was a beat of silence, before Jadeite, breathless with pain, answered crossly, "What the hell a-are you t-talking about?"

It would be amusing if not for the fact that Jadeite was most likely dying. "You can't tell me you didn't recognize that your own _soul _was damaged and twisted," Zoisite snapped. "Even you aren't that ignorant."

"I'm not ignorant... t-the only thing t-that's happened to m-me is, is your Soul Flight f-fa-failing..."

"Prove it then and tell me what happened. The damage here is older and more extensive than anything Soul Flight could have caused. You are _dying _Jadeite and if you do not tell me what has happened then Queen Beryl will know only that your failure is what killed you. Is that what you desire?"

Judging by the way Jadeite growled and flinched, no, it wasn't. Good. Perhaps that would make the fool talk.

"I just _told you_...I don't kn-know ... what you're t-talking about. 's you and... N-Nephrite... who have the … w-weird e-energy … signatures," Jadeite gasped.

The words sent a chill down Zoisite's spine. _'What?'_ Jadeite had to be wrong. '_I would know if there was something like _that _inside of me.'_

But would he really? Jadeite didn't seem to realize at all what was happening inside of him. Could the same have happened to Zoisite himself? And Nephrite – Jadeite might possibly have answered his other questions. Nephrite's presence was a disturbance as well and Zoisite _had _begun to suspect it might be for similar reasons to Jadeite. And now, now the fool was suggesting that the same havoc was present within his own aura?

If only he could simply reject the matter out of hand – but it was obvious that Jadeite had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't – couldn't dismiss the other man's suggestions out of hand.

"Jadeite -" Zoisite turned, only to fall silent. Jadeite's eyes were closed, no longer clenched with pain but relaxed, as if he were sleeping. His clenched fists had loosened, his harsh breathing stopped.

There really was only one word to sum this all up. _Dammit._


End file.
